Lives in Cricet No 33 - Jack Robertson and Syd Brown

67 he looked ‘a shade vulnerable against excessive pace’. 84 Peter West also suggested that the selectors shared these reservations. 85 However, John Warr, who had seen Jack ‘take Frank Tyson apart when he was bowling at his fastest’, strongly disputed that he had such a weakness. 86 On the other hand Bob Wyatt, whilst recognising what a fine player he was, thought that he was inclined suddenly to relax his concentration − not an unusual fault in batsmen − and also said that at one time he had the reputation of being a moderate player of spin − ‘but is now much improved’. 87 As Wyatt was a Test selector in the early 1950s these reservations might explain Jack’s omission from the England side. According to E.M.Wellings, 88 Pelham Warner had also advanced the theory that Jack was ‘not good’ against leg-spin bowling. (Did he think this because of his rather soft dismissal by leg-spinner Smith in his first Test innings?) Wellings reminded his readers, however, that Jack had scotched that idea at Lord’s in 1947, when he made a century against England’s then premier spinner Wright while the rest of the side had struggled. His batting at Colchester (64 and 115) against a rampant Peter Smith, and another century against him in the return at Lord’s, also leant weight to Wellings’ rejoinder. Yorkshire’s Bob Appleyard, a versatile bowler who briefly touched greatness in the early 1950s, was an admirer: ‘I’d rather have bowled at Peter May than Jack Robertson … [he] played me better than anybody. He was so correct on the off side and, if I pitched it on his leg-and-middle, he’d just flick me over square leg.’ 89 Hampshire’s Derek Shackleton is the eighth-highest wicket-taker of all time, and the highest since the war. When asked, in later years, who he considered were the finest batsmen he had played against, Jack’s name was quickly mentioned. 90 In fact Shackleton dismissed him 15 times in his career, but their paths would of course have crossed many times. (Jack had a good record against Hampshire with an average of 41 and four centuries and ten fifties.) The only bowler who dismissed Jack more often than Shackleton was Doug Wright who picked up him up 18 times. However, I’m not sure this really provides evidence of a significant weakness against leg spin: he did score five centuries and seven fifties against Kent. Shackleton said he ‘would have gladly given Jack 50 runs to stay in the pavilion’. I could go on. The list of admirers was clearly considerable, but the point is, I hope, well made that Jack’s batting was held in the very highest esteem by those best qualified to comment. 84 Bailey, Trevor, Wickets, Catches and the Odd Run , Willow Books, 1986. 85 West, Peter, The Fight for The Ashes, 1953, George G.Harrap, 1953. 86 Warr, who played 260 matches for Middlesex between 1949 and 1960, writing Robertson’s obituary in the The Cricketer magazine, December 1996. 87 Wyatt, R.E.S., Three Straight Sticks, Stanley Paul, 1951. 88 Wellings, E.M., Vintage Cricketers, George Allen and Unwin, 1983. 89 Chalke, Stephen and Hodgson, Derek, No Coward Soul: The Remarkable Story of Bob Appleyard , Fairfield Books. 2003. 90 Matthews, David, On the Spot: Derek Shackleton: A Biography, Blackberry Downs Books, 1998. Style